Trucks!

A new storytime session, yay! I’m back for another six weeks of storytime fun. (Then another three week break, followed by my giant eight-week summer reading session. I’m looking at two to three storytimes a week…but I promise I’m only doing one theme.)

For this session, I switched up the welcome song. The kids liked “The More We Get Together” well enough, but it didn’t always serve to shake out their sillies before stories started. I’ve also added in an opening song to gently remind them of the storytime rules (sit down, hands to self). Hopefully they’ll take that to heart.

Welcome Song: Clap and Sing Hello!
We clap and sing hello.
We clap and sing hello.
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and sing hello.
(We wave and sing hello; we stomp and sing hello)
Credit: Storytime Songs

Opening Song: If You’re Ready…
If you’re ready for a story, take a seat
If you’re ready for a story, take a seat
Clap your hands and stomp your feet
Make your hands all nice and neat
If you’re ready for a story, take a seat
Credit: SJPL Hello & Goodbye Songs [Link no longer works]

And now, on to the actual theme of today’s storytime — TRUCKS. I’m going to be short on the summaries today, because basically the kids LOVED trucks and freaked out with JOY every time there was a new truck — eagerly shouting out the color of the truck, the name of the truck, where the truck was, that their mom/dad has a truck, if they wanted that truck, if that truck was smelly, etc. This was par for the course for the whole storytime and I see no need to keep rehashing it.

First up, “A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa” by Jonathan London.

Great book, love the noises and the variety of trucks in it. This is a good series, by the same author who does the Froggy books. Then, it was on to another variation of the Thumbkin fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Where Are Trucks?” (Thumbkin)
Where is pick-up truck? Where is pick-up truck?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you.
Drive away. Drive away.
(Tow truck, dump truck, moving truck, firetruck)

For this one, I made little trucks flashcards (kind of) and popped them behind my back. The kids were really amused with this activity. I almost wish I had little toy trucks instead to really wow them.

Next up, “Trucks: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble!” by Patricia Hubbell.

We have all of Hubbell’s transportation books at the library and they go out all the time. A great series for kids obsessed with transportation.

Action Rhyme: Windshield Wiper
I’m a windshield wiper (bend arm at elbow and hold fingers up)
This is how I go (swing arm back and forth)
Back and forth, back and forth (continue motion)
In the rain and snow
Credit: Best Kids Book Site

This action rhyme was so much fun, we did it several times. One of my boys lamented that he missed the snow. I kind of failed on the flannelboard front this week — I hid cars behind our set of houses and we looked for truck’s best friend…red car! (Or orange car or yellow car…etc.)

Next, I read “Tip Tip Dig Dig” by Emma Garcia.

Another fabulous series that I adore. There’s also a car book and a tools book. The kids needed to get up and move, so we went ahead and did this action rhyme next:

Action Rhyme: “Open the Truck Door”
Open the truck door, climb inside
I get to help my mommy drive
Fasten the seat belt and shut the door
Start the engine, hear it roar
Turn the corner and step on the gas
If the road is clear, we may pass.
Credit: Librarian Lisa

The next book…”The Little Dump Truck” by Margery Cuyler.

I used this one, in particular, because it focused on one kind of a truck instead of just naming different trucks. A quick round of “Old McDonald Had a Truck” and then I moved on to my last book of the day, “I Love Trucks” by Philemon Sturges.

This is my favorite of all the books because it prominently features my favorite truck: ice cream truck! A great way to end storytime.

Our craft for today was a garbage truck that I lovingly stole from Sarah…again.

As always, some kids enjoyed gluing more than others while some focused on coloring. All had a really good time today!

Yay, trucks! I do a similar craft with my kids when I do my garbage truck theme, except I use scraps of discarded magazine for the “garbage.” It’s a nice way to slip in some reusing/recycling, and the scraps really do look like garbage. 😀

I love your opening songs! I am totally taking that second one for fall storytimes… (Sadly, our summer family storytimes are going to be on Thursday mornings, so I will probably not get to do any…) I also love that craft!